Mexican DTOs will increasingly use the CBAG region to smuggle
illicit drugs into the country. Heightened security measures along
other areas of the U.S.-Mexico border where territorial violence is
occurring will cause DTOs to expand their smuggling operations in
the CBAG region in an attempt to circumvent law enforcement efforts.

Cross-border violence may escalate as Mexican DTOs battle for
control over drug smuggling in the area. Additionally, intensifying
border violence will quite likely extend inward into the region,
endangering both law enforcement personnel and citizens. The
involvement of U.S.-based groups, including violent prison and
street gangs, in the disputes will quite likely lead to an expansion
of these violent confrontations into the CBAG region.

Local cannabis cultivation will most likely increase as the
growing demand for high-potency marijuana continues in the CBAG
region. Remote and fertile public lands in the region will provide
Mexico-based marijuana producers with the opportunity to cultivate
cannabis, including higher-potency strains, cost effectively with
little or no risk of law enforcement detection. Additionally, an
increasing amount of indoor cultivation may occur in response to the
demand for higher-potency marijuana in the region and elsewhere.

The number and use of subterranean tunnels will increase. The
exceedingly sophisticated nature of these tunnels has made law
enforcement detection difficult. These tunnels will pose a more
serious national security threat to the United States by providing
more avenues by which terrorists or weapons may be surreptitiously
transported into the country. Mexican DTOs will search for even more
innovative methods to transport illicit drugs and drug proceeds
across the California-Mexico border.